Philanthropy and the throne

Here was I praying for a the right Prince to be the next Ooni of Ife, but it seems the ‘chosen’ one has been in the making for quite sometime.

My excitement is all because of an article I read this morning about one of the contestants for the Ooni title. Prince Charming is 40years old. A businessman. Lover of his people and all that jazz. What makes me think Prince Ogunwusi is likely to be the next Ooni was the addition to his resume that has just been brought to light.

It is like contesting for any public office in Nigeria, when the heat is up, general public get plenty of juicy news – opponents go extra miles to dig up different stories against the one another.

The gist of the story was that Prince Adeyeye Ogunwusi who is a serious candidate from Giesi ruling house spent considerable amount of money since the beginning of the race so his side of the town is rooting for him.

“Ogunwusi had on September 19 distributed transformers worth N250m to some communities in Ile-Ife, which had been in darkness for a long period due to faulty transformers.” Punch

Unfortunately, this same Prince is now being investigated by the Nigeria Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) for transactions between him and Sijuade Holdings Limited. The dispute dated back to 1993.

It was about a 30,000 square metres land in Lekki, Lagos. Prince Ogunwusi was contracted to help out with the sand fill of the land. One thing led to another, it got messy.

“Apart from the forgery earlier complained about, Mr. Ogunwusi/Metropole has also sold the eight duplex units that ought to have accrued to our client and he converted the proceeds, running into N400m, to his personal use.” Rotimi Jacobs & Co.

If allegations were true (with EFCC involved, it seems legit), this is a serious case, but my question is why now?

I hope EFCC is able to do thorough investigations and justice served.

This whole case is about land ownership title being taken from Oba Sijuade – how? I wondered why Ooni Sijuade given his influence didn’t pursue this case when he was alive – irony.

I’m sure this whole issue will be settled somehow and we will still need to have new Ooni chosen so here are other ways Prince Ogunwusi and others who are really serious about becoming the next Ooni can help their communities, also for those who may not be able to afford transformers, please consider the following projects at Ife market:

Oja Ife market is in dare need of a motor park. It is dangerous having cars driving in the tiny space between stalls. I heard there is a motor park somewhere but there must be good reasons why people don’t use it. If there is one, make it safe and enforce usage. W’ll all benefit and thank you for it.

Coming from Sabo, if you enter Oja Ife from the first turn, about 100 meters away from the junction is a bridge, around here are people selling mostly vegetables and meat. The water under that bridge is a colour of charcoal, it is stagnant. Help pay for people to unclog this and educate on proper waste disposals. They will never forget you for this.

How I wish all charitable givings is suspended if the giver/s is seeking a public office. In our case, that is just a wishful thinking, and at least if they must give, let them offer gifts that will add to value to the quality of lives.